A/N: Avatar and the characters created by it are in no way owned by me. Though, I'm prone to taking some artistic license with them, oops.
Welcome back, darlings! I know it's been quite a while but school definitely devoured me to the point that I barely had time to read, let alone write. Here's the next chapter in all it's glory, probably with typos but I don't hae a beta, so whatever!
Enjoy!
I did my best to warn Katara of what to expect in the Fire Nation. It was going to be a gruesome game of politics with unrelenting question of why they should help her. How would it benefit them? Was it worth the risk? I tried to prepare her with answers but, ultimately, it would depend on her being able to convince the Fire Lord to help. I would help as much as I could, but Ozai wouldn't be swayed by my speech; he would be swayed by hers. She represented the South, and she needed to represent something worth saving.
What I didn't prepare her for was actually meeting the royal family. After leaving the air temple, we stopped along the coast of the Fire Nation to rest for a few hours. From there, I sent a messenger hawk to the family, hoping to give them time to prepare for our arrival. Katara was eager to move on but arriving unannounced would surely cause some sort of disarray. Ozai preferred structure and order; I didn't want to take that from him.
Katara's unease had been growing this whole time, I think being in the vicinity of the Fire Nation made her nervous. They'd built up a reputation in the years I was gone and it wasn't one they would shed easily. I believed this opportunity to help the Southern Water Tribe would give Ozai and Iroh a chance at redeeming their nation. I hoped they would see that, too.
During our descent onto the palace grounds, Katara grew eerily silent while my heart was hammering in my chest, eager to reunite with friends I hadn't seen in a long while.
"Aang!" Zuko waved as Appa landed, hurrying toward us alongside his sister. I leaped down onto the stone, hugging both of them before bowing to their parents who stood behind them.
Firelady Ursa smiled. "It's wonderful to see you, Aang." Her eyes flitted to Appa's saddle. "And I see you brought a friend."
Curiosity formed in Azula's eyes as she spotted Katara. Her arm slipped from my waist, moving forward to greet Katara. "Hello!" she beamed. "I'm Princess Azula, welcome to the Fire Nation Capital. Aang told us about you in his note, you'll probably need new clothes, it's too hot here for anything you brought from the South Pole."
Ozai cleared his throat, shooting Azula a glare that sent her slinking away. "Business first, Azula," he chided.
"Sorry," I said quickly, moving to Katara's side and taking her hand. Her palm was sweating and her jaw was set firm. Of course she was nervous. I understood that. But couldn't she relax just a little? I gave her hand an assuring squeeze before introducing the family. "Katara, may I present Firelord Ozai, his wife, Lady Ursa, his son, Zuko, and his daughter, Azula."
She nodded her head and did something that resembled a curtsy before looking fiercely at Ozai. "We have much to discuss," she told him.
Before he could respond, another voice joined the fray. "Yes, we do. But, for now, perhaps some rest and some tea?"
"And that," I laughed, "is Iroh, Ozai's older brother."
Much to Iroh's dismay, Ozai was rather insistent on hearing what Katara and I had to say. I was thankful for it, honestly. Getting this business out of the way would give us time to relax into our new surroundings rather than stress over what to say.
In the Fire Lord's hall, Katara's passion for her people poured from her lips and any shadow of doubt faded from her. She was confident, she was poised, and she'd made a brilliant argument pleading for support. Never did she directly say this was the Fire Nation's fault but the undertone was there. It was easy to see that the royal family was moved by her speech, the question was whether or not it would be moved into action.
They asked little of me, only to confirm the actions of Hahn and the North's movements. Eventually, Ozai and Iroh consented.
"We have contacts in the North that will confirm what you have said," Iroh assured. "Then we will decide what to do."
Katara nodded, a smile forming on her face briefly, falling quickly as she spoke. "But my brother, Sokka, he's in the North. I fear for his saf—" she was stopped by Ozai's hand hovering in the air.
"We will take care of him, Katara," he assured, dropping his hand back to his knee. "If our contacts deem the situation too dangerous, they will leave and they won't leave without him. In the meantime, I'll have them get in contact with him and discuss their options."
"He won't trust them," Katara replied. Blunt and to the point, I liked that about her.
The room stilled a moment. Hardly anyone mentioned the distrust between the nations, but Katara and Sokka believed they had the greatest of reasons to distrust them, they killed their mother.
Prince Zuko finally spoke, breaking the silence. "Surely, you have a code word we can use. If he's there as a spy, there has to be a way he can know to trust contacts."
Though she hesitated, Katara nodded and gave the phrase to them, scrawling it on a piece of paper so they wouldn't forget.
Katara disappeared after the audience, claiming she needed rest. I retreated to my rooms as well, though Zuko joined me not ten minutes later.
"So that's her, huh?" he asked. He flopped down into the lounge chair, grinning like an idiot the whole way.
My years in the Fire Nation weren't brief, and Azula's nosy nature had outed my feelings for Katara a long time ago. Approximately two months into my stay, actually. From then on, she'd announce quite loudly and proudly when I'd gotten a letter from the Southern Tribe and insist I share some details of the letter. Zuko, however, understanding of my privacy, would eventually distract her attention, usually with some sort of firebending challenge, and I would sneak off to read the letter.
We'd grown to be great friends since then, one I confided in about a great many things, including Katara. What astonished him the most was that, despite the distance and the length between contact, I'd maintained my affection for her all these years.
I nodded. "Yes, that's her."
He exhaled, slumping against the cushions. "Your description barely does her justice. She's breathtaking."
My eyes narrowed. "I'm sure Mai would love to know you think so," my words are joking but a threat was there, subtle as it may be.
He snorted, shaking his head. "Mai and I are engaged, Aang. There's not much you have to worry about."
I raised a brow. "Engaged? Since when?"
He shook his head. "I'll catch you up if you catch me up."
Seeing as he'd heard much of my adventures in the South, I filled him in on the smaller details, the moments Katara didn't share. And, honestly, I wasn't sure if I should share, either. What were we to each other? With so much going on, I didn't think we'd ever be anything to each other, not until things were settled. Whenever that might be. But this was Zuko, one of my best friends, I shared it with him anyway. Halfway through, Azula joined us, eager to hear the story as well. I backtracked for her, highlighting details I'd missed, moments where Hahn showed his true colors, moments Katara showed how strong she was.
By the end of it, the pair hated Hahn more than I did. Mostly because I tried my best not to.
"And then we left, in the middle of the night, without giving two thoughts to what might happen to the South after we did leave. It was irresponsible, I admit. But, all I could think of was getting her away from there. She wasn't safe."
Azula sighed wistfully. "Ty Lee is going to love this story," she hummed, rolling onto her back and kicking her foot out, nudging Zuko's side. "Well, are you going to tell him your less than romantic story?"
Zuko's eyes narrowed. "It was romantic enough!"
"Oh, hardly! You nearly set Mai on fire."
I blinked several times before Zuko finally decided to live up to his end of the bargain. "A couple months ago, I proposed to Mai via a scroll of parchment that she read while I was there. It was lying flat on the table and while she read I was using my fire bending to sort of singe the edges into a heart shape—"
"Except Mai was leaning her cheek on her hand and her sleeve caught fire. You're lucky a servant was paying attention and put it out, Zuzu. You were certainly too distracted by your nerves to notice."
Zuko glowered and said quickly, "She said yes in the end, that's all that matters."
"After quite the extended silent treatment," Azula sang.
I snorted, finally relenting to the laughter building up in my chest. "Only you, Zuko."
Azula smirked. "We sent you a letter, Aang. But we sent it to Kioshi Island, we weren't aware you'd moved on until a few weeks ago."
"Oh?"
Zuko nodded. "We're having a betrothal celebration in a week; the letter we sent was an invitation. Since you're here, I guess we won't need you to notify us of your attendance. We weren't expecting the plus one, however."
My cheeks reddened, at least I think that's what that sensation was.
"Oh!" Azula gasped. "Katara won't have anything to wear, will she?"
I shook my head, we hadn't packed much regarding ceremonial garb, though I'd left some of that here when I'd left the Fire Nation. They're always throwing some sort of party, I figured it'd have been a good idea to have something here at all times. "Probably not." My eye flicked to movement beside the door, Katara's form hesitantly stepping in. "But perhaps you can ask her about that yourself, Azula."
Katara's eyes blazed but she stepped forward. "I'd rather you talk to me than talk about me," she quipped as she approached. "What is it you want?" She sounded harsh, angry even. Probably her default setting in a new place.
Azula glanced in my direction, definitely having noticed the tone. "Well, Mother and Father are hosting Zuko and Mai's engagement celebration in two days and I only noted that you wouldn't have anything to wear. My thought—well, Ty Lee's thought—was that we could find some fabrics for you and the royal dress maker could prepare something for you. She's really quite divine, she'll make you something perfect."
"No, I'm really fine with what I have…"
Azula shook her head, laughing slightly. "Nonsense, you'll die of heat stroke in that thick fabric, we have something that'll be much cooler, I promise. I'll be by your rooms in a few hours with the dress maker and Ty Lee, I think we can find some blues that'll look simply divine on you."
"She'd probably look wonderful in Fire Nation red and gold," Zuko added. His comment was directed at me and my eyes narrowed.
"Zuzu!" Azula gasped. "Oh, you're right she'd look…sexy, wouldn't she?"
"Anyway, Katara probably has something important to discuss with me, you two better go…" Zuko's amused grin didn't leave his face as he and his sister left, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of anger toward his comment. Though, he was right. She'd look beautiful in red. But I didn't like either of them saying as much. "Is everything alright, Katara?" I asked when we were finally alone.
Though her shoulders shook, she nodded. Her jaw was set, firm and stubborn. I crossed the room and rested my hands on her shoulders. "I think we're beyond lying, Katara."
She closed her eyes and shook me off, exhaling loudly. "It's just a lot to process in one day, Aang."
"What is?"
A sigh escaped her lips. "All of this. Being here. Being with the family responsible for my mother's death. I feel like I'm betraying her."
I stiffened. I'd been fighting against those words for so long, and it hurt to hear her use them. "Katara," I spoke softly. "Ozai, Ursa, Iroh, and their children are not responsible for the actions of Firelord Azulon or Sozin."
"They might as well be," she insisted.
"No." I said firmly. "They're not. They are responsible for what they did after his death. They tried to solve things, they did. And they've been nothing but helpful since negotiations to end the war began."
She shook her head, sinking onto the bed and I knelt before her. "Katara, what's really going on?"
She sighed, her shoulders slumping as her face fell. "I'm scared, Aang. I don't know them like you do. I know you trust them but I…I can't. Not yet. I don't know them. I don't know what they're capable of, only that they killed my mother."
"Katara," I took her hands in mine, they trembled slightly, cold to the touch. I warmed them the best I could. "Katara, you need to understand that Ozai would never have let that happen if he was in power."
"How could you possibly know that, Aang?" Defeat rang through her voice, masked with weariness, wondering if this was all too much.
"Because the Order of the White Lotus infiltrated the Fire Nation a long time ago, and posed as tutors for two Fire Nation princes, teaching them what it meant to protect the balance of the world in the absence of the Avatar. They protected Iroh and Ozai from their father's corruption. Situations that could have been awful for them were made better.
"When Azulon died and Iroh abdicated his claim to the throne, Ozai took the throne alongside a woman he loved with the intent of lessening the damage his father had done. But calling back his troops instantly would have led to disaster in the Fire Nation, the nobles would have called for his head. Not unless it looked like someone had forced his hand," I hesitated. "Someone like me, Katara. He sent people out to find me to help him stop the war. Your father found me first and brought me to him."
She lifted her head. "Dad knew?"
I nodded. "He was one of the few that knew, it had to be kept a secret from the rest of the Fire Nation but a few trusted generals were to spread the message to other leaders." It was a risky move and had taken a lot of convincing, but it had worked. Miraculously, it had worked.
"D-doesn't that mean the nobles want your head?" she asked wearily.
I smiled, letting out a breathy laugh. "Yes, I suppose so. But no one wants to bring down the wrath of the Avatar State."
Her form straightened slightly, her shoulders no longer drooping. "Thank you," she finally said as she moved her thumb along my palm.
"I understand you're scared, Katara. But, I beg of you, please keep an open mind. It's the only way we'll get through any of this. We can't ask for help and hate them at the same time."
Slowly, she nodded. "You're right, Aang. I will, at least I'll try," she promised.
That was enough for me. This was a lot for her to take in, I knew that. It was a lot for me to take in, too, and she was handling it a lot better than I did. I'd just about taken apart the building during negotiations years ago, still fragile from discovering the fate of my people. "We'll be fine," I promised, pressing a kiss to her hands. "And, if it helps, I can teach you how to defend yourself with waterbending. You won't need it here, but if it's a comfort to be able to, I'll be happy to teach you."
After a quick inhale, she slowly exhaled, her hands moving in mine to grasp them tightly. Her head bobbed vigorously. "Yes. Yes, I'd like that."
A/N: Thank you dearly to Brian for reminding me that I'm not a completely awful writing and that I do an okay job.
Reviews are hot cocoa on a cold winter day!
xoxo,
Em
